The present invention relates to packaging for shipping and storing products, and in particular to packaging for shoes.
Shoes are typically packaged and shipped in shoeboxes fabricated of cardboard, with a lid, hinged or sliding into place over one side of the box. The shoes may be wrapped in a paper sheet for protection before being inserted into the shoebox and paper may be stuffed in the shoe to prevent deformation of the shoe inside the box.
At a retail store, the shoeboxes containing the shoes may be stacked on a shelf with labels on the ends of the shoeboxes identifying the type and size of the shoe.
Despite the almost universal adoption of the shoebox for shipping and storing shoes, shoeboxes have some drawbacks. The rigid box can be wasteful of space when the size of the contained shoes is considered. Shoeboxes must be carefully stacked for efficient shipping, and to prevent their contents from becoming dislodged and jumbled. At the retail level, the boxes hide product from direct view, losing the opportunity to promote the produce to the casual consumer and forming a barrier to efficient identification of desired shoes. Retail stores must often dedicate one shoe for display purposes representing a lost sale.
Shoeboxes are also expensive to construct, and because of their bulk and rigid construction, impractical to ship and store.
To address some of these problems, it has been proposed to package shoes in clear bags that may be suspended on hangers or the like. U.S. Pat. No. 5,414,975 describes such a bag that may be used for shipping and displaying shoes. In order to prevent a crushing or deformation of the shoes in transit, inflated bladders are placed within the shoes and pressurized to hold the shoes against crushing.
While such a design provides a number of advantages, the use of the bladders adds complexity and expense to the packaging technique that may limit its adoption in the shoe industry.